WHITE AND GRAY MATTER

• NABILA BASHIR
• MEDICAL TECHNOLOGIST
• UNIVERSITY OF HEALTH SCIENCES LAHORE
PAKISTAN
 Gray matter
• The gray matter is the area of the spinal
cord where many types of neurons
synapse. dorsal horns (or posterior horns),
many incoming sensory neurons synapse
with interneurons, which then distribute
information to other parts of the spinal
cord and brain
 Gray matter
• The grey matter also extends from the brain
into the spinal cord. The grey matter creates a
hornlike structure throughout the inside of the
spinal cord while the white matter makes up
the surrounding sections of the spinal cord.
The grey matter does extend to the spinal
cord to make signaling more effective
• Grey matter is distinguished from white
matter in that it contains numerous cell
bodies and relatively few myelinated axons,
while white matter contains relatively few cell
bodies and is composed chiefly of long-range
myelinated axons. The colour difference arises
mainly from the whiteness of myelin.
• White matter is one of the two
components of the central nervous system
and consists mostly of glial cells and
myelinated axons. The white
matter is white because of the
fatty substance ( myelin ) that surrounds
the nerve fibers. ... White matter in
the spinal cord functions as the “wiring”;
primarily to carry information.
 White matter
• is tissue in the brain composed of nerve
fibers. The fibers (called axons) connect
nerve cells and are covered by myelin (a
type of fat). The myelin is what gives white
matter its white color. Myelin speeds up
the signals between the cells, enabling the
brain cells to quickly send and receive
messages.